A parent in Sutherland carried his inclination to protect his teenage daughter too far, landing him in jail, the Lincoln County Sheriff's office said Monday.

Just before 1 a.m. Sunday morning, sheriff’s deputies received a report of a girl in Sutherland wanting to harm herself.

Deputies responded and contacted the girl, her parents and several other witnesses at the girl's home. The girl, a juvenile, said she had met a boy at the Hershey teen dance. When she got home she told her father, 42-year-old Shane Halcott, about the boy, according to a sheriff’s statement.

Halcott began to berate the girl and told her she could not date any boys. The girl grew distressed and an argument began. At one point, in passing, the juvenile said she wanted to hurt herself, the sheriff’s statement said.

The girl and other witnesses told investigators that Halcott retrieved a pump shotgun, loaded it and tried to hand the gun to the girl. He allegedly told her to use the gun to kill herself and attempted to give it to her several times.

When questioned, Halcott did not deny the story, the sheriff said.

Halcott was charged with felony child abuse (class 3) and jailed. The maximum sentence is 20 years imprisonment.